166 



DRY FARMING CONGRESS. 



something to do with this, and it would be difficult to draw a line there. 

 A man who wants to spend all of his time upon the dry farm will want 

 more land to accommodate him than the one that spends half of the time 

 going to and from his farm. So that all of these conditions must be taken 

 into consideration. But I believe that the average man, if he has 160 acres, 

 can get more out of it, if he will spend his time upon it and use his brain 

 and benefit from the experiences we have had in this Congress, he can 

 get more out of it lhan he can get out- of 320 acres. I believe the trouble 

 with most of us is we don't cultivate properly; we don't get the best results 

 out of our farming, and our experience has told us — I am speaking now 

 of my brother, whom I work in connection with upon the dry land farm — 

 that our best results have been in going down, and not in trying to reach 

 out too far, but finding out just exactly what one man and four horses, 

 with the requisite implements and tools, can do during the year, and we 

 have decided the best man we can get hold of can perhaps during the 

 season handle one hundred acres, but the average man I don't believe can 

 handle over eighty, and I think if you will figure this out, that will give 

 farmers on an average about twice as much as they are making on their 

 farms today, because I believe land that is properly tilled under these meth- 

 ods that have been suggested, and we know that most of them are good, 

 at least I have found many of them are good, or at least satisfactor}^ to 

 me, and we raise our grain at a very reasonable profit, and find, by figuring, 

 that we get sufficient results to justify a man to work at eighty acres dur- 

 ing the season. That is, I believe in summer fallowing one eighty one 

 year and cropping the other, therefore a man spends all of his time upon 

 an eighty. A man with good management and ability perhaps can handle 

 100 acres. We have tried one man with two teams on 300 acres, and we 

 found to our sorrow that we could not handle it, and the yield in crops 

 wasn't that which we were looking for. But every season we have plowed 

 any particular ground, or any particular part of it, plowed it in the right 

 time, cultivated it in the right time, seeded it in the right time, we have 

 been enabled to get splendid results, and the further we get away from this 

 condition the less the good results. So we have concluded to at least dis- 

 card 100 acres of land for these two men and two teams and we look for 

 better results. Rather, instead of discarding our 100 acres we have divided 

 our farm and use but 200 acres at a time, and by using four horses we are- 

 counting on running our farm 100 acres for every man and four horses. 

 Of course we have to have additional help during harvest time, but I am 

 speaking of general conditions. 



I presume many persons in this room will take issue with me and say 

 they can do more than that. Perhaps they can. I can't. I will guarantee 

 to do this, though. I will take a farm of 200 acres and farm one end for 

 one year, summer fallowing the other end, and^any other fellow can take 

 400 acres, and if he will try to farm 400 acres in the course of five years 

 I think I will have raised more grain on my 200 acres than the other fellow 

 would on his 400. So much for good tilling. 



